Administration Nominates a Social Security Privatizer as a Trustee
The
administration
announced the
nomination of
James
Lockhart to be one of the two
public trustees for the Social
Security and Medicare Trust
Funds. If confirmed by the
Senate, he would serve for four
years.
Lockhart served as the Deputy
Commissioner of the Social
Security Administration under
President George W. Bush.
During that time, he advocated

for privatizing Social Security
benefits into personal accounts,
and suggested investing Social
Security in the stock market
during a congressional
hearing. He also ser ved as the
Executive Director of the
Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) under
President Ronald Reagan.
In addition to his long history
of support for privatization of
earned benefits, Lockhart has
also proposed raising the
retirement age and making
cuts by slowing the growth of

benefits. He is now co-chair of
the Bipartisan Policy Center,
which promoted “back door
privatization” in the form of
benefit cuts and expanding
subsidies for private savings.
The commission’s latest report
suggests creating retirement
savings accounts through a third
-party for employers who don’t
want to offer pension plans,
raising the age of eligibility for
receiving benefits, and shifting
responsibility from the
government and employers to
individuals.

“It is crucial
that we fight to
protect Social
Security and its
beneficiaries,”
Joseph Peters, Jr.
said Joseph
Peters Jr., Secr etar y-Treasurer
of the Alliance. “James
Lockhart’s nomination is
another step in the misguided
strategy by many of our leaders
to raise the Social Security
retirement age, privatize it and
take away earned benefits for
which retirees worked their
entire lives.”

Earned Benefits, Not Entitlements
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law 83 years ago today, August 14, 1935. Here are some
key facts about the program, courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
 About 62 million people received Social Security checks in June of this year.
 The average monthly check was $1,343.
 Benefits for the average worker are only about half those in other developed countries.
 Social Security lifts about 15 million elderly Americans out of poverty.
 About 1 in 5 seniors rely on Social Security for virtually all of their income (more than 90 percent).
 Administrative costs for the program are just 0.7 percent of annual benefits.
Social Security’s trust funds will be exhausted by 2034. If policymakers do not act by then, payments will be reduced by
about 25 percent.

It’s Medicare’s 53rd Birthday—It’s Time Everyone Had It
Medicare for All is coming. It is coming because it is profoundly wise policy and profoundly winning politics.
"The American people are divided on many issues, but this is not one of them. Sixty-four percent of voters are more likely to back
candidates who support expanding Medicare, versus only 22 percent who are less likely."
"The only entities who benefit from continuing to have a private system are the for-profit insurance corporations."

FDA approves the first generic version of EpiPen
The Food and Drug
Administration approved the
first-ever generic version
of EpiPen Thursday — a move
the agency says could help
lower costs for the drug, which
can carry a price tag of more
than $600.
It isn’t clear how much the
new version, which will be sold
by Teva, will cost. But it may be
a lower-cost option for
individuals with allergies, who
need to keep this lifesaving
medicine with them at all times.
Right now, a two-pack of
EpiPen, marketed by Mylan,
currently lists for $608.61.
Mylan also makes its

own “authorized
generic” version,
which it sells for
$300 per pair.
The approval
comes about two
years after
Mylan landed in
hot water for drastically raising
the price of its medicine while
using its monopoly power to
keep competitors out of the
market. Since 2004, the
company raised the price of
EpiPen over 450 percent.
The decision is a long-awaited
victory for Teva, which has
been trying to bring a generic
EpiPen to the market for years.

It settled a patent
infringement lawsuit
with Mylan in 2012,
agreeing to wait
until mid-2015 to
bring a generic
onto the market. And
then the FDA
rejected its application in 2016.
When asked, a Teva
spokesperson did not specify
how much the new medicine
will cost. The medicine is not
yet available for patients.
The FDA cast the approval as
a way to help patients with a
cheaper alternative.
The decision “is part of our
longstanding commitment to

advance access to lower cost,
safe and effective generic
alternatives once patents and
other exclusivities no longer
prevent approval,” FDA
Commissioner Scott Gottlieb
said in a statement.
People who need epinephrine
auto-injectors can already look
to several competitors. One,
Auvi-Q, lists for $4,900 per
two-pack, but the company has
devised arrangements whereby
both insured and uninsured
individuals pay much less in
cash. Another, Adrenaclick,
comes in both a brand and
generic version.

Tell your Members of Congress to Support Medically Necessary Dental Care
People with Medicare face
significant health risks because
they do not have access to
medically necessary dental care.
There is an ongoing effort to
urge CMS to use their existing
administrative authority to allow
this coverage, and we need your
help!
Ask your members of
Congress to sign on to letters
asking CMS to provide
Medicare coverage for
medically necessary dental
care, as authorized by law.

Medically
necessary dental
care refers to
care that is
needed to
resolve dental
infections or diseases that risk
complicating or standing in the
way of receiving important,
Medicare-covered treatments
like chemotherapy, radiation,
organ transplants,
immunosuppression, and cardiac
surgery.
Currently, if a beneficiary

needs dental
work done in
order to undergo
such a medical
procedure,
Medicare won’t
cover the oral health work. This
lack of treatment can exacerbate
beneficiaries’ health conditions
and increase Medicare’s costs
for treating their illnesses.
CMS has the authority to
allow coverage for dental care in
such medical circumstances. We
need members of Congress to

urge CMS to exercise that
authority.
This effort has the support of a
broad coalition, including 80
prominent organizations
(AARP, ADA, Families USA,
Medicare Rights Center, and
numerous medical societies and
associations) that understand
just how important this coverage
is. You can learn more
by reading the coalition’s
community statement.

Take action today.

Quick lessons to combat spin
As
pundits and
politicians
continue to
discuss the
deficit, misinformation and
confusion about Medicare and
the Affordable Care Act
abound. All too often, facts
seem to be drowned out by
fiction. Particularly since the
Supreme Court upheld the
Affordable care Act, we are
hearing a lot of misinformation
about the law and its impact on
Medicare. As these Myths make
news — and old Myths make
news again — the Center will

respond with facts and
information
The truth is, Medicare
works. By and large it has been
a resounding, cost-effective
success. Nonetheless, Rep.
Ryan and some candidates
continue to propose changing
Medicare into an individual
voucher system that will hurt
beneficiaries and their families,
ignoring options for substantial
savings that would not harm
beneficiaries or eliminate the

Medicare program. This is
particularly worrisome since
half of all people with Medicare
have annual incomes below
$24,150, and already pay more
out-of-pocket for health care
than people with private
insurance.
To help dispel misinformation
and try to set the discussion on a
factual foundation, we’ve
rounded up erroneous statements
and countered them with the
truth.

Help us set the record straight,
shine light on fair, financiallysound policies, and demonstrate
how Medicare works for
millions of Americans –
including your family and
neighbors. Spread the word
with our handy reference chart
below, or from the more detailed
articles that follow…..Read
More

New Marketing Guidance Leaves Too Many Unanswered Questions
Last week, the Medicare
Rights Center submitted
comments on new federal
marketing guidance that will
apply to Medicare Advantage
(MA) and Part D prescription
drug plans in 2019.
The Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS), the
federal agency that oversees the
Medicare program, updates and
releases marketing guidance
every year so that MA and drug
plans have current, uniform
rules for marketing their
products safely and accurately,
without discriminating against
people with Medicare. Some
years see minor tweaks to the
rules, but other years, like this
one, see wholesale changes in
how plans may be marketed.
We have significant concerns

about next year’s
guidance, in part,
due to what it fails
to address. Starting
in 2019, MA plans
will have access to new
flexibilities that may make the
already complex plan selection
process even more confusing.
One example that we
have discussed in the past is a
new option for MA plans to
offer a wider array of
supplemental benefits. This is a
brand-new opportunity for plans
that will have significant
implications for consumers – yet
the updated guidelines do not
address it at all. In not doing so,
CMS has lost a valuable
opportunity to establish firm
guardrails to protect people with
Medicare.

We also believe that
the availability of
supplemental
benefits must not
become just a sales
tool and sponsors must not be
permitted to use them as a
marketing device to persuade
beneficiaries into their plans. To
the contrary, MA plans need
guidance on how they can
market plans with such benefits
without cherry-picking and
inappropriately steering
potential enrollees.
There are other points
throughout the guidance where
CMS appears to be easing
marketing restrictions that were
put in place to protect people
with Medicare, and in response
to persistent, documented
abuses.

It was important for us to
respond to this new guidance to
inform the development of
future guidelines. Our comments
register our objections to any
changes that may loosen or
remove consumer protections, or
leave gaps for harmful,
misleading, or coercive
marketing practices. More and
more, people with Medicare
need tools to find the right
coverage for their individual
circumstances. This requires
robust oversight to protect
beneficiary access to care,
economic stability, and wellbeing.
Read more about
supplemental benefits.
Read our comments.
Read the new marketing
guidelines.

New Documents Show Federal “Election Integrity Commission” was Sham
President Donald Trump’s
Election Integrity Commission,
formed to investigate voter
fraud, had pre-determined the
findings of that report,
according to documents made
public last Friday.
After a series of lawsuits, the
commission was disbanded.
Despite this, one of the
commission’s members, Maine
Secretary of State Matthew
Dunlap, feared he was being
excluded from the commission’s
work, which he suspected was
being conducted entirely by
commission chairman and
Kansas Secretary of State Kris
Kobach. Dunlap sued to for ce
Kobach to turn over commission
materials. Dunlap won, and on

Friday, he released
those records to the
public.
The records show
that prior to the
beginning of the
investigation, Kobach and others
had created a draft of the final
report complete with several
different sub-headings on voter
fraud, with conclusions listed
and evidence to be filled in later.
They also show that the
commission, which requested
the personal information of
every voter in the country over
the objections of several
secretaries of state, intended to
seek confidential information
from jury rolls from clerks of
courts around the country.

Kobach further
intended to promote
his Crosscheck
program, which
independent experts
have found to be
wrong in 99% of purported
matches.
“A rigged investigation is just
another in a long line of
attempts to ‘fix’ a non-existent
problem at the cost of voters’
rights,” said Executive Director
Fiesta. “This investigation
clearly hoped to make it more
difficult for thousands of seniors
and people of color to vote. We
must remain vigilant about
stopping attempts to purge
lawful voters from the rolls prior
to the midterm elections in

November.”
To confirm your voter
registration, contact your local
board of elections or visit
www.vote.org. If you have
recently moved or changed an
address, you must contact your
local board of elections to
update your information. It is
especially important to confirm
your registration if you have
not voted within recent election
cycles. Vote.org can provide
specific information on your
polling location, absentee
ballots and voting, and set up
election reminders. For those
who have not registered to vote,
you can do so online or by
contacting your local board of
elections.

A leading Republican urges reform for Medicare and Social Security
as deficits balloon after the GOP's tax cut
Rep. Steve Stivers , R-Ohio, has the toughest job in politics right now: trying to stop a Democratic "blue
wave"at the polls this fall. Stivers, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, sat
down to talk to CNBC's John Harwood about the campaign and other factors. Here is an excerpt from the
interview:
Read the interview here
Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans, Inc. • 94 Cleveland Street • North Providence, RI • 02904-3525 • 401-480-8381
riarajap@hotmail.com • http://www.facebook.com/groups/354516807278/

Key Findings: Prevalence of Disabilities and Health Care Access by Disability
Status and Type Among Adults — United States, 2016
Update: In our continuing
endeavor with the CC=A
(Citizens Coalition for Equal
Access) to pledge to make
Universal/Inclusive Design a
guiding principle for all
infrastructure bills and projects
and will continue working to
identify and remove the
barriers that prevent all people
of the United States from
having equal access to the
services provided by the
Federal Government.
People with Disabilities and
Access to Health Car
The Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report
(MMWR) published a report
describing adults with
disabilities in the United States,
as well as the differences in
health care access by disability
type. Using 2016 Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance System
(BRFSS) data, CDC scientists
analyzed the survey responses
of those adults 18 years of age
and older who had any of the
following six types of
disabilities:
 Hearing (serious difficulty
hearing);
 Vision (serious difficulty
seeing);
 Cognition (serious difficulty
concentrating, remembering,
or making decisions);
 Mobility (serious difficulty
walking or climbing stairs);
 Self-care (difficulty dressing
or bathing); or
 Independent living (difficulty
doing errands alone).
They found that 1 in 4 adults
in the United States, or 61
million people, have at least
one of these disabilities.
Anyone can have a disability,
and a disability can occur at any
point in a person’s life.
However, this report found
disabilities more common
among adults 65 years of age
and older; approximately 2 in 5
adults in this age group have a
disability. Disability was more

commonly
reported by
women, nonHispanic
American Indians/
Alaska Natives
(AI/AN), adults
with income below the federal
poverty level, and adults living
in the southern region of the
United States. Researchers also
found that, in general, adults 65
years of age and older with any
disability reported better access
to health care compared to
younger adults with a disability.
However, disability-specific
disparities in health care access
were common, particularly
among young and middle-aged
adults. Generally, adults with
vision disability reported the
least access to health care (i.e.
health insurance coverage, usual
health care provider, unmet
health care need because of cost,
and routine check-up within past
12 months) and adults with selfcare disability reported the most
access to care.
Research on the number of
people with disabilities, their
characteristics, and their
disability-specific differences in
health care access might enable
health care professionals to
address disability-specific
barriers(https://www.cdc.gov/
ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/
disability-barriers.html) to
health care, ensure inclusivity
(https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/
disabilityandhealth/disabilityinclusion.html) of health
programs, and improve the
health of people with
disabilities.
Main Findings
Disability Findings
 Mobility disability was the
most common disability,
reported by approximately 1
in 7 adults, followed by
cognition (1 in 10),
independent living (1 in 15),
hearing (1 in 17), vision (1 in
21), and self-care (1 in 27).

 Among young
adults, cognitive
disability (1 in 10)
was the most
common. Mobility
disability was the
most common
among middle-aged (almost 1
in 5) and older adults (about 1
in 4).
 Percentages of adults with
disability increased as poverty
increased. In fact, mobility
disability was nearly 5 times
as common among middleaged adults living below the
poverty level compared to
those whose income was
twice the poverty level.
 All disability types were most
often reported by women,
with the exceptions of serious
difficulty hearing (most often
reported by men) and self-care
(equally reported by men and
women).
 Among adults aged 65 years
and older, half of all AI/ANs
(54.9%), Hispanics (50.5%),
and those who reported that
they are “other non-Hispanic
race or multi-racial” (49.9%)
reported a disability.
Health Care Access Findings
Researchers looked at the
responses, given by people with
disabilities, to four health care
access questions:
 Health insurance coverage;
 Usual health care provider;
 Receipt of a routine check-up;
and
 Cost barrier to health care
need.
They found that, for each
disability type, having health
insurance coverage, a usual
health care provider, and
receiving a routine check-up
increased with age, while having
an unmet health care need
because of cost decreased with
age. Findings for specific age
groups are outlined in the table
below:
 Percentages of older adults

reporting having health
insurance coverage, a usual
health care provider, and
receipt of a routine check-up
in the past 12 months were
similar by disability type.
Among older adults, unmet
health care needs because of
cost were most commonly
reported by those with self-care
disability and least commonly
reported by those with serious
difficulty hearing.
 The lowest percentages of
middle-aged adults reporting
having health insurance
coverage and a usual source
of health care were among
those with vision disability.
 Among middle-aged adults,
unmet health care needs
because of cost were most
commonly reported by those
with vision disability and least
commonly reported by those
with serious difficulty
hearing.
Receipt of a routine check-up
during the past 12 months
among middle-aged adults was
most often reported by adults
with a self-care disability, and
least often reported by adults
with serious difficulty hearing.
 The lowest percentages of
young adults reporting having
health insurance coverage, a
usual health care provider,
and a routine check-up in the
past 12 months were among
those with vision disability.
 Receipt of a routine check-up
during the past 12 months was
most often reported by young
adults with a mobility
disability.
Among young adults, unmet
health care needs because of
cost were most commonly
reported by those with
independent living disability and
least commonly reported by
those with serious difficulty
hearing….Read More

Epilepsy Affects People of All Ages, Including Seniors
The neurological condition
starts more often in old age than
in middle age.
IF YOU OR A LOVED
ONE are experiencing epilepsy
for the first time after age 65,
you're not alone. Among seniors,
epilepsy is one of the top
three most common neurological
conditions. In fact, epilepsy
starts more often in old age than
in middle age, reflecting the
parallel increase over time of
some of its causes – such as
stroke, Alzheimer's disease and
brain tumors.
Epilepsy poses special
challenges for seniors. The first
may be receiving the correct
diagnosis. Gathering a clear
description of the epileptic
seizures may be difficult for
seniors who live alone or in a
residential care facility. Even if

the seizures are
witnessed or recorded on
a smartphone, it may be
difficult to recognize the
signs, because seizures
tend to look different in
seniors than in younger people.
They may be easily mistaken for
other conditions that are
common in seniors, such as
stroke, dizziness and memory
lapses. A neurologist can help
uncover the problem and will
likely perform an
electroencephalogram, or EEG,
and a brain MRI.
Once epilepsy is diagnosed,
the next step is treatment with
medication. For seniors, this also
raises some special issues. As
we age, our liver and kidneys
become less efficient at
eliminating drugs from the body,
and we require lower and more

frequent doses and more
careful monitoring for
side effects. Seniors with
balance problems,
fatigue, confusion, slow
thinking or tremor may
be especially sensitive to drug
side effects. It's important to
communicate any concerns to
your doctor so that the
medication can be adjusted as
needed to keep side effects at
bay.
Many seniors experience
multiple health challenges at the
same time, and this further
complicates the epilepsy
management. Some seizure
medications can aggravate
conditions such as kidney
stones, thinning of the bones,
blood clotting disorders or
depression, and care must be
taken to choose the best seizure

medication for each individual.
In addition, people with multiple
conditions usually take multiple
medications, each of which must
be carefully managed to avoid
harmful drug interactions. Close
communication with every
caregiver on your health care
team is the key to early
identification and correction of
any drug-related problems that
may emerge. If seizure control
remains imperfect despite
everyone's best efforts, you may
wish to consult with an epilepsy
center to consider whether
specialized surgery could be
beneficial.
The good news is that with
careful management, seizures
can be completely controlled for
most seniors who experience
epilepsy.

Vitamin B-3 may treat and prevent acute kidney injury
New research suggests that
taking vitamin B-3 orally might
soon become an effective way to
treat or even prevent acute
kidney injury.
In acute kidney injury, the
kidneys suddenly stop
functioning — usually as a result
of complications during
hospitalization.
Approximately 10 percent of

adults who are
hospitalized in the
United States
reportedly develop
it.
Though
temporary, the condition can be
fatal. In fact, the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) say
that 9.5 percent of the adults
who had the condition in 2013

died as a result.
Acute kidney injury
occurs when waste
products accumulate
in the blood and the
kidneys struggle to
maintain a good balance of
fluids in the body. Seniors,
people already hospitalized, and
patients in intensive care units
are particularly vulnerable to the

condition.
New research led by Dr. Samir
M. Parikh — a kidney specialist
at the Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center (BIDMC) in
Boston, MA — suggests that a
form of vitamin B-3 may be
used to prevent acute kidney
injury in vulnerable
people….Read More

When to See a Doctor About That Weird Chest Tightness
When you suddenly
experience chest tightness, it’s
easy to jump to the most
extreme conclusion: This is it,
you’re having a heart attack.
But there are plenty of
conditions that can make it feel
like an elephant’s sitting on your
chest, some of which are as
serious as a heart attack while
others are nowhere near that
dire. Here’s some information
about what might be causing
your chest tightness, plus when
you should see a doctor.

In order to know
when chest tightness is
an emergency, you
have to understand a
little bit about the
conditions most likely to bring
on this symptom.
Here are some of health issues
that often cause chest tightness
to alert you that somethings up.
 Acid reflux
 Asthma
 Panic attacks
 A collapsed lung

 A pulmonary
embolism
 A heart attack or
angina
Again, if you’re healthy
and young, it’s unlikely that
your chest discomfort is due to a
serious heart problem. That
doesn’t mean you can just put
off persistent chest tightness,
though.
You should talk to your doctor
about chest tightness, no matter
how it presents, but there are a

few red flags that you need to
seek help immediately.
“I always tell people that, no
matter what, if you are having
chest tightness you need to see
your doctor. It’s never really
normal,” Dr. Haythe says.
Of course, these are loose
guidelines. No matter when your
chest tightness happens or how
intense it feels, seek medical
help if you’re concerned. A few
of your most important organs
are packed in there, so it’s OK to
play it safe. ...Read More

Genetic Testing for Cancer Lacking for Women on Medicare: Study
Testing for gene mutations
linked to breast and ovarian
cancer is rare among some
Medicare patients who have the
cancers and qualify for such
tests, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed data
from 12 southeastern states
between 2000 and 2014. Only 8
percent of 92 women who met
Medicare criteria for BRCA1
and BRCA2 gene testing
received it within five years of
their cancer diagnosis, the study
found.
No patients in Arkansas,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia
and West Virginia got the tests,
according to the study published
Aug. 14 in the Journal of the

American Medical
Association.
Breast cancer
patients with BRCA
mutations are more
likely to develop
cancer in a second breast and
are also at increased risk for
ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer
patients with the gene changes
are more likely to get breast
cancer.
Relatives who also have the
mutations also face a higher
cancer risk, the Vanderbilt
University Medical Center
researchers said.
"Women who carry one of
these mutations but don't know
their mutation status are not able

to take advantage of
preventive or early
detection
interventions that we
have available, so
they miss out on the
opportunity to reduce their risk
for these cancers and potentially
reduce their overall mortality,"
study author Amy Gross said in
a university news release.
"They are also not able to
inform family members who
might be affected," Gross added.
She is an epidemiologist at the
Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical
and Translational Research in
Nashville.
The study covered a broad age
range: More than half of the

women were under age 65 and
qualified for Medicare due to
disabilities.
The researchers said lack of
patient interest and physician
recommendations might explain
the low genetic testing rate.
None of the patients had
received a doctor referral for
genetic counseling, they added.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer
Institute has more on BRCA
gene mutations.
SOURCE: Vanderbilt
University Medical Center,
news release, Aug. 14, 2018

Here's a Part of Aging That Really Stinks
Unpleasant phantom odors
haunt many older Americans, a
new study finds.
Of more than 7,400 people
over age 40 who took part in a
federal health survey, 6.5
percent said they experience
nasty odors -- such as burning
hair or the reek of an ashtray -from nowhere. That's 1 in 15
people.
As folks age, their ability to
identify odors tends to decrease,
but their detection of phantom
odors increases. Why this
happens is a mystery, but
smelling something that isn't
really there can be life-changing,
the researchers said.
"Problems with the sense of
smell are often overlooked,
despite their importance. They
can have a big impact on
appetite, food preferences, and
the ability to smell danger
signals such as fire, gas leaks

and spoiled food,"
said Judith Cooper.
She's acting director
of the U.S. National
Institute on Deafness
and Other
Communication Disorders
(NIDCD). It led the study.
Lead researcher Kathleen
Bainbridge said overactive odorsensing cells in the nasal cavity
or a malfunction in the brain
area that understands odor
signals may be involved. The
new study lays the groundwork
for further research.
"A good first step in
understanding any medical
condition is a clear description
of the phenomenon. From there,
other researchers may form
ideas about where to look
further for possible causes and
ultimately for ways to prevent or
treat the condition," Bainbridge
said in an institute news release.

She is an NIDCD
epidemiologist.
Study co-author Dr.
Donald Leopold is a
clinical professor of
surgery at the
University of Vermont Medical
Center in Burlington. He said
many people who experience
strong phantom odors have a
poor quality of life. They may
also have trouble maintaining a
healthy weight.
The new research follows a
Swedish study that reported 4.9
percent of people older than 60
experienced phantom odors. It
said the rate was higher among
women than men.
This new study found a
similar rate among Americans
over 60, but an even higher rate
among those between 40 and 60.
Roughly twice as many women
as men reported experiencing
phantom odors, and the gender

gap was greatest in the younger
group, the NIDCD study found.
Besides gender, other risk
factors for experiencing
phantom odors include head
injury, dry mouth, poor overall
health, and being poor, the
researchers said.
They said poor people may
have greater exposure to
environmental pollutants and
toxins, or have health conditions
that contribute to the problem,
either directly or because of
medications they take.
The study was published Aug.
16 in the journal JAMA
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck
Surgery.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on
Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders has
more on smell disorders.

Don't sleep in your contact lenses. Here's why.
One man wore his contact
lenses overnight while hunting.
He ended up needing a corneal
transplant to save his eye. Ditto
for another man who did not
bother to take his lenses out for
two weeks.

Two teenagers who
remind people not to
slept in their lenses —
sleep in their contact
bought without
lenses, and they put
prescriptions — ended
together six grisly stories
up with permanent scarring.
to demonstrate why.
The Centers for Disease
"Sleeping in contact lenses is
Control and Prevention wants to one of the most frequently

reported contact lens risk
behaviors and one with a high
relative risk for corneal
infection," the team wrote in
CDC's weekly report...Read
More